England attack under pressure to deliver as Smith falls victim to revamp | Robert Kitson

While dropping Marcus Smith to the bench makes a sort of sense, Steve Borthwick’s selections still feel largely reactive

It was a beautiful day in Bagshot. The kind of afternoon made for chucking a ball around and contemplating a calculated risk or two. Slightly firmer pitches, the sun shining, a licence to thrill … if ever there was a week made for a player like Marcus Smith to go out and express himself from the start against an apprehensive Italy this was probably it.

So let’s just say the England teamsheet will have landed with a heavy thump in the Smith household and the offices of his agents, Roc Nation. It is only a few weeks since Netflix was projecting the 26-year-old as the poster boy – “the best hair in world rugby” – for their latest fly-on-the-wall documentary, with a shiny new Mercedes G-Wagon to reinforce his profile.

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Williams boost for Dragons as he signs on for more

Wales scrum half Rhodri Williams has signed a new contract that will keep him at the Dragons beyond this season. The 31-year-old breached a near 11-year gap between Welsh appearances when he came ont to face Australia in the Autumn Nations Series earlier in the season. His previous cap had come against Tonga in November […]

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